‘ZPF’ Is a Fever-Dream Shmup Blasting Onto Sega Genesis (Yes, That’s Right) in May, and It Rocks (Demo Impressions)

I love the idea of passionate fans and developers making games for obsolete hardware. Seeing new games become available for the Sega Genesis in 2025 is a treat, especially when they’re done well. ZPF is a perfect example of that; it feels modern enough to pass by 2025 standards while looking and sounding like a lost game from the ’90s. It’s a high-octane shmup game that immediately hooked me, and I can’t wait to start browsing Facebook Marketplace to play this in the most inconvenient way possible. Oh yeah, it’s coming to Steam, Xbox, and Switch, too.

Most New Games Can’t Nail the Retro Charm, but ‘ZPF’ Hits the Mark in This Regard

Making a “retro game” look and play like it belongs back in the ’90s is a surprisingly difficult task. A lot of games, in this regard, don’t hit the mark. Pixel graphics don’t instantly make a game look as retro as some may think, and that’s where ZPF already earns top marks. I could easily imagine myself playing a game like this with my brother back in the day. In the same vein as Gradius or even Thunder Force, ZPF is a bright, colorful, chunky miracle of programming. Even playing through this demo on PC, I was dreaming of the glow of a CRT taking over me.

Unlike many games from this generation, however, ZPF is extremely colorful and detailed. Yes, there are slightly modern touches added, especially now since folks are bafflingly good with pixel art. But all three selectable characters feel right at home on the Genesis. They ooze that “cool” factor that SEGA was aiming for during this generation. Gold, my personal favorite, fires a massive laser beam that decimates anything in its path. Knight, as his name suggests, is a massive knight in shining armor. And Gladius pilots a jet black ship with tri-shooting bullets.

Regardless of who I chose, I realized something. It’s been a long time since I’ve properly played a Shmup game, especially one that was designed not only to look retro but to feel just as retro. And I got my ass kicked. A lot. But, as the plucky young child inside of me perked up with joy at the sight of cool ships with wicked weapons, I sat up straight and locked in.

‘Zpf’ Is Difficult, but It Never Feels Unfair. It’s Skill Over Anything Here

ZPF isn’t afraid to throw a metric ton of enemies your way at any given time. Fighting through hordes of enemies is something familiar to anyone who has played a shmup before. Mixing slight tastes of bullet-hell style blasts alongside a staggering number of enemies on screen at times, ZPF is a difficult game. But as I locked in and started to focus, I was able to get further and further with each run.

It does steal something from more modern games, however. It features some simple roguelike elements, such as earning cash from runs and using it to upgrade your ship for future voyages. That is, if you can survive. If I died, I lost everything that I had earned during that run. Thus is life, isn’t it? But it just made my will to survive and see things through even stronger. With three stages available to me to dive into, I had to check them all out and attempt to make it to the end of each of them.

Each “level” is divided into multiple different portions, giving me plenty of enemy variety and bosses to attempt to conquer. Each ship had a typical shooting attack, a melee attack, and a massive bomb attack that would wipe out everything on the screen. Bombs are precious, and you only have a limited number of them per stage, so I learned to save them until things got rough. Or, if I knew a run was going badly, I would just unleash hell upon anything that got in my path.

Each Character Feels Unique Enough To Earn a Spot in Anyone’s Heart

ZPF is a brutal attack on the senses, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible. The Sega Genesis was, at the time, a very powerful system. The development team behind ZPF understood the assignment. This is a gorgeous game with great designs and excellent environments. Sometimes, depending on the character chosen, it can be easy to lose them in the background. But even with that small hassle, I didn’t want to put ZPF down.

Musically, graphically, and everything in between, ZPF feels like a game made for sickos like me. Each character feels unique while also looking like something torn out of the pages of Heavy Metal magazine. The hilariously caked-up knight on the side borders is super reminiscent of the art of the era. And everything flows fantastically here.

While ZPF is releasing on official Sega Genesis hardware in May 2025, PC fans won’t need to worry. It’s coming to Steam, Xbox, and Switch at a later date. But after diving into this demo, I can easily say that this is one of those games that is officially on my radar. It could legitimately be the type of game that has me searching for official hardware to play it as it was meant to. It’s just that good.